Friday, July 27, 2012

Tennis flag bearers at London 2012 Opening Ceremony

London 2012 Opening Ceremony begins in less than an hour (9 PM in London). 'Isles of Wonder' is the title chosen by the Artistic Director of the Opening Ceremony Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire).

The event will feature 10,000 volunteers, cast and crew and will be watched in the Olympic Stadium by the British Royal family and more than 100 World leaders. The theme, from what has been uncovered so far, will be the Industrial Revolution.

At the heart of the Ceremony is the Athletes’ Parade, a procession of the participating teams in the Stadium, nation by nation. The big finale is the entrance of the Olympic Flame into the Stadium and the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron, marking the start of the Games, says the London 2012 website.

Several tennis players will feature at the Athletes' Parade as flag bearers for their countries. Here's a list of the lucky tennis stars:

Novak Djokovic - Serbia

Novak Djokovic won the bronze medal for his country in Beijing 2008. With Nadal out of the race, and following an amazing tennis season as world Nº1, the Serbian is in good condition to bring home the gold medal.

Stanislas Wawrinka - Switzerland

Roger Federer has handed the honour of carrying Switzerland's flag at tonight's opening ceremony at the Olympic Games in London to doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka. Federer, who carried the flag for his nation in Athens and Beijing, said he was happy for his gold-medal-winning doubles partner to shoulder the responsibility, reports ATP Tour. Wawrinka said on Facebook: "I am very happy and proud to be the flag bearer for Switzerland for the Olympics! I am now ready to take part in both the singles and the doubles events, I can’t wait ! Thanks to all for your great support!"

Maria Sharapova - Russia

London 2012 are Maria Sharapova first Olympic Games and she will have the honor to carry the flag of Russia. Today she had lunch at the Russian house in the Olympic village and tried out her uniform for tonight.

Agnieszka Radwanska - Poland

Radwanska will carry the flag of Poland in the best moment of her career. She is currently the world Nº 2 player and has high hopes for the Olympics. She made it to Wimbledon's final just three weeks ago...will she do it again?

Marcos Baghdatis - Cyprus

Marcos Baghdatis will lead a team of 13 athletes from his country. The 40-ranked tennis player is likely the most famous athlete in Cyprus, a nation which has never won an Olympic Medal.

Max Mirnyi - Belarus

Max Mirny is a doubles specialist and is currently the 1-ranked player in this discipline.

Stephanie Vogt - Liechtenstein

Stephanie Vogt is world number 208 in the WTA rankings.

Horia Tecau - Romania

Horia Tecau is world Nº8 player in doubles ranking.

NOTE:Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Olympics due to a knee injury, and will be replaced by Pau Gasol as Spain's flag bearer.